The 2013 Gordon Conference on Biomaterials & Tissue Engineering will bring together world-class clinicians, scientists and engineers to discuss materials-related strategies for disease remediation and tissue repair. The theme of the 2013 conference will be "Inductive Signals for Tissue Regeneration and Clinical Challenges" which focuses on applying basic science and engineering principles from diverse areas including stem cell biology, materials science and mechanical engineering toward solving clinically relevant biomedical problems. Speakers and discussion leaders will present cutting-edge basic research and clinical translation in the area of biomaterial-mediated tissue repair and regeneration. Specific topics are: Acellular Tissue Constructs: Inductive Signals and Clinical Challenges, Tissue Engineering Approaches and Materials for Directing Neural Regeneration, Immunoresponsive Materials, Materials for Engineering Vascular Tissues, Engineering the Stem Cell Niche, Drug Delivery Platforms for Tissue Engineering, Mechanics of Materials and Mechanisms of Directing Cell Response, and Lessons in Tissue Engineering and Biomaterials: What Industry Wishes Academia Knew. The 2013 program also adheres to the GRC directive of holding vigorous formal and informal discussions between researchers at all career stages. There will be poster sessions organized on topical themes to match the session topics.